United Community Banks, Inc. Reports Second Quarter Earnings
GREENVILLE, S.C., July 21, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE: UCB) (United) today announced financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, with strong spread income driven by 6.8% annualized loan growth and margin expansion for the sixth consecutive quarter.
Chairman and CEO Lynn Harton stated, “Our second quarter results reflect strong loan growth and a strategic emphasis on our core banking business. Our loan portfolio grew $332 million in the second quarter, an annualized rate of 6.8%, reflecting the demographic strength of our geographic footprint and the diligence of our bankers. Excluding the sale of our Navitas equipment finance business, which is expected to close in the third quarter, per a previously announced agreement, we had over $1 billion in loan production and grew loans 6.4%, annualized. We further widened our net interest margin, which is up for the sixth consecutive quarter, while maintaining our focus on disciplined relationship pricing.”
Harton continued, “We’ve recently announced the acquisition of Peach State Bank and the sale of Navitas, two strategic actions that I’m confident will be catalysts to the opportunities United has to expand and deepen relationships in the Southeast, one of the best footprints in banking. These transactions strengthen our ability to focus on our core business and position us for greater long-term success.”
Second Quarter 2026 Financial Highlights:
Conference Call
United will hold a conference call on Tuesday, July 21, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. EDT to discuss the contents of this press release and to share business highlights for the quarter. Participants can pre-register for the conference call by navigating to https://dpregister.com/sreg/10209320/1040bcbbd98. Those without internet access or unable to pre-register may dial in by calling 1-844-676-1337. The conference call also will be webcast and can be accessed by selecting “Events and Presentations” under “News and Events” within the Investor Relations section of the company's website, ucbi.com.
(1) Excludes non-operating items as detailed on Non-GAAP Performance Measures Reconciliation. (2) Net income less preferred stock dividends, divided by average common equity. (3) Excludes effect of acquisition related intangibles and associated amortization. (4) Annualized. (5) Excludes income tax expense and provision for credit losses.
(1) Substantially all equipment financing loans were transferred to held for sale in the second quarter of 2026 as a result of the pending sale of Navitas Credit Corp. The remaining $35.9 million to be retained were reclassified to the commercial & industrial line as equipment financing no longer represents a significant held-for-investment category at June 30, 2026.
(2) Reduction in the second quarter of 2026 reflects the transfer of substantially all equipment financing loans to held for sale.
(1) Substantially all equipment financing loans were transferred to held for sale in the second quarter of 2026 as a result of the pending sale of Navitas Credit Corp.
(1) Annualized.
(1) Interest revenue on tax-exempt securities and loans includes a taxable-equivalent adjustment to reflect comparable interest on taxable securities and loans. The FTE adjustment totaled $1.22 million and $983,000, respectively, for the three months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025. The tax rate used to calculate the adjustment was 25%, reflecting the statutory federal income tax rate and the federal tax adjusted state income tax rate.
(2) Included in the average balance of loans outstanding are loans on which the accrual of interest has been discontinued.
(3) Unrealized gains and losses on AFS securities, including those related to the transfer from AFS to HTM, have been reclassified to other assets. Pretax unrealized losses of $191 million in 2026 and $240 million in 2025 are included in other assets for purposes of this presentation.
(4) Net interest margin is taxable equivalent net interest revenue divided by average interest-earning assets.
(1) Interest revenue on tax-exempt securities and loans includes a taxable-equivalent adjustment to reflect comparable interest on taxable securities and loans. The FTE adjustment totaled $2.33 million and $1.97 million, respectively, for the six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025. The tax rate used to calculate the adjustment was 25%, reflecting the statutory federal income tax rate and the federal tax adjusted state income tax rate.
(2) Included in the average balance of loans outstanding are loans on which the accrual of interest has been discontinued and loans that are held for sale.
(3) Unrealized gains and losses on AFS securities, including those related to the transfer from AFS to HTM, have been reclassified to other assets. Pretax unrealized losses of $183 million in 2026 and $254 million in 2025 are included in other assets for purposes of this presentation.
(4) Net interest margin is taxable equivalent net-interest revenue divided by average interest-earning assets.
About United Community Banks, Inc.
United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE: UCB) is the financial holding company for United Community, a top-100 U.S. financial institution committed to building stronger communities and improving the financial health and well-being of its customers. United Community offers a full range of banking, mortgage and wealth management services. As of June 30, 2026, United Community Banks, Inc. had $29.1 billion in assets and operated 200 offices across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The company also manages a nationally recognized SBA lending franchise and an equipment finance subsidiary, extending its reach to businesses across the country. United Community is the most awarded bank in the Southeast for Retail Banking Customer Satisfaction by J.D. Power, earning more awards than any other bank in the region, including recognition in 12 of the last 17 years. The company has also been named one of the “Best Banks to Work For” by American Banker for nine consecutive years. In commercial banking, United Community earned multiple 2026 Greenwich Best Bank awards for Small Business Banking. Forbes has consistently named United Community among the World’s Best and America’s Best Banks. Learn more at ucbi.com.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This press release, including the accompanying financial statement tables, contains financial information determined by methods other than in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. This financial information includes certain operating performance measures, which exclude merger-related and other charges that are not considered part of recurring operations, such as “noninterest income – operating”, “noninterest expense - operating”, “provision for credit losses – operating”, “operating net income,” “pre-tax, pre-provision income,” “operating net income per diluted common share,” “operating earnings per share,” “tangible book value per common share,” “operating return on common equity,” “operating return on tangible common equity,” “operating return on assets,” “return on assets - pre-tax, pre-provision - operating,” “return on assets - pre-tax, pre-provision,” “operating efficiency ratio,” and “tangible common equity to tangible assets.” These non-GAAP measures are included because United believes they may provide useful supplemental information for evaluating United’s underlying performance trends. These measures should be viewed in addition to, and not as an alternative to or substitute for, measures determined in accordance with GAAP, and are not necessarily comparable to non-GAAP measures that may be presented by other companies. To the extent applicable, reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable measures as reported in accordance with GAAP are included with the accompanying financial statement tables.
Caution About Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. In general, forward-looking statements usually may be identified through use of words such as “may,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “will,” “should,” “plan,” “estimate,” “predict,” “continue” and “potential” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts and represent management’s beliefs, based upon information available at the time the statements are made, with regard to the matters addressed; they are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may prove to be materially different from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties that change over time and could cause actual results or financial condition to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such statements.
Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to (1) the risk that the financial benefits from the acquisition of Peach State Bancshares, Inc. ( “Peach State”) or the sale of the Navitas equipment finance business (“Navitas”) (each a “Transaction” and collectively, the “Transactions”) may not be realized or take longer than anticipated to be realized, (2) disruption from the Transactions of customer, supplier, employee or other business partner relationships, (3) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the Transaction agreements, (4) the possibility that the costs, fees, expenses and charges related to the Transactions may be greater than anticipated, (5) reputational risk and the reaction of each of the companies’ customers, suppliers, employees or other business partners to the Transactions, (6) the failure of the closing conditions to the Transactions to be satisfied, or any unexpected delay in closing the Transactions, including due to failure to obtain applicable shareholder or regulatory approvals, (7) the risks relating to the integration of Peach State’s operations into the operations of United, including the risk that such integration will be materially delayed or will be more costly or difficult than expected, (8) the risk of potential litigation or regulatory action related to the Transactions, (9) the risks associated with United’s pursuit of future acquisitions, (10) the risk of expansion into new geographic or product markets, (11) the dilution caused by United’s issuance of additional shares of its common stock in the Peach State acquisition, and (12) general competitive, economic, political and market conditions. Further information regarding additional factors which could affect the forward-looking statements can be found in the cautionary language included under the headings “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” in United’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, and other documents subsequently filed by United with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
Many of these factors are beyond United’s ability to control or predict. If one or more events related to these or other risks or uncertainties materialize, or if the underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, shareholders and investors should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this communication, and United undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. New risks and uncertainties may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for United to predict their occurrence or how they will affect United.
United qualifies all forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.
For more information:
Jefferson Harralson
Chief Financial Officer
(864) 240-6208
Jefferson_Harralson@ucbi.com